Hunter’s Blood

16118311Title: Hunter’s Blood
Author: Marianne Morea
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: A fun, steamy read which includes some cliches but also threw out others in a way that made this a great read.

I don’t read much paranormal romance, largely because even the little reading I’ve done has made me acquainted with the cliches of the genre. This book has some of those. There’s the supernatural abilities as an explanation for unrealistically over-whelming sex appeal; the insta-love; the girl who feels overwhelmed by the guy’s magic enhanced mojo; and the guy intrigued because the girl is the only one who can resist his appeal.  However, if you like paranormal romance, I’d suggest you check this one out for the good qualities that make is stand out from the pack (pun completely intended).

Marianne Morea’s writing is as good as I remembered from Hollow’s End.  Her descriptions are detailed enough I felt I was standing in each scene. The secondary characters are well-developed and added depth to the story. One of the cliches I enjoyed was the steamy sex, which the author accurately described as “medium heat”. One of the cliches she broke spectacularly is the lack of female friendships in books with a strong romance. There are several great friendships in this short story. I think it even passes the Bechdel test! She also showed the mutual attraction from both participants perspectives. This balances the relationship well, as does the fact that the characters both support and protect each other. As a result, the smoldering sexual tension didn’t make me view our strong protagonist as more of a puddle in the presence of her love interest.

In Hunter’s Blood, Marianne Morea didn’t throw out all of the tropes in the way I so admired in Hollow’s End. However, she did choose some good ones to keep and a few important ones to break, adding great female friendships and subtracting a weak-kneed heroine from the common formula. That was enough to make me really enjoy a genre that’s not always my favorite. Fortunately for me, the publisher didn’t just send her book. If I want read more of the genre, I have seven other books by really great authors in the same ebook. Fortunately for the rest of you, that collection went on sale today on Amazon for only $.99 and personally, I think this book alone is worth more than that. Check it out here.

Do you have any autho’s you love because they break the cliches of their genres? Do you enjoy cliches in books or find them annoying? 

11 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Urban Fantasy

11 Responses to Hunter’s Blood

  1. Words for Worms

    I find myself more tolerant of cliches if the books in question don’t take themselves too seriously… Like if a romance novel can get me laughing with the characters rather than just at them? That’s a great thing!

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      That’s a great point. A book that is clearly intentionally incorporating cliches to be funny is a different thing entirely from a book that just includes cliches. As I mention in my comment below, I do sometimes like cliches though, especially in fantasy books. Perhaps because I read a lot of fantasy when I was younger, I actually have fond feelings for some of the cliches :)

      Reply
  2. Monika (@lovelybookshelf)

    Oh gosh no, I can’t stand cliches in books. Definitely find them annoying!

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      I think that’s probably the most common opinion :) I have some that I hate and some that I can actually enjoy. Love triangles are a cliche that drives me crazy, but I often like seeing common fantasy elements show up. For example, the Dementors in Harry Potter are very like the Ringwraiths in The Lord of the Rings which are very like the Skull Bearers in The Sword of Shannara and so on in many other books. There’s something about the familiarity that makes me happy, perhaps because I have fond memories of first reading some of theses books when I was much younger.

      Reply
  3. Charlotte @ Thoughts and Pens

    Well, that’s a very broad question, Katie. Let me see, I have differing views when it comes to cliches. If we’re talking about book genre, cliches on Fantasy, Sci-FI, dystopia and mystery books would be quite annoying but with contemporaries, it’s okay as long as the plot execution is done well.

    However, if we’re talking about romances, characters and the likes, cliches would certainly make me knock off stars from my rating.

    And back to your review, I think I might pick up this one some day especially that it features a strong friendship between the MC and the other characters. And though people are already tired of reading paranormal stories, I still love reading them. So who knows, this one would really work out for me:D And wow, steamy sex? Hmmn!

    Reply
    • marianne morea

      Thank you Charlotte! I appreciate the nod and hope for a future fan!
      Marianne Morea

      Reply
    • DoingDewey

      Interesting! I also have different feelings about cliches in different genres, but I think I’m most ok with them in fantasy novels, Perhaps they tap into fond memories of classic fantasy novels I read when I was younger. I was surprised at what a strong idea I had of what constituted a paranormal cliche when it’s not the genre I’m most well-read in, but I did.

      I really loved the female friendships and that the main character didn’t become completely useless when her love interest was around. I don’t read books with sex scenes much more often than I read paranormal, so I might not be the best judge, but I preferred the honest descriptions in this book to some of the over-the-top metaphors I’ve found in romances. Much sexier, I thought :)

      Reply
  4. marianne morea

    Katie, Thank you for such a terrific review! I know I can always count on you to give me the truths about my work…good and bad…and while some authors aren’t fans of candor, I certainly am! I am thrilled you liked it in the overall, even though paranormal isn’t your favorite genre. Hunter’s Blood is my very first book, and most people who continue on to the book’s sequel, Twice Cursed, have been impressed with how much my writing has grown. (Or so their reviews say!)

    Hollow’s End is by far the nearest and dearest to my heart, and even though it’s Teen/YA, it was such fun to write! To be honest I had no idea tropes were so prevalent in YA until I read your review, and I’m glad I opted not to use any.

    As for cliches in paranormal stories, when you are dealing with myths and legends come to life, folklore shadows you like herpes. LOL! In Hunter’s Blood, I tried to get away from cliche as much as possible by building the story line around a mystery and adding in suspense and science with an unexplained virus attacking the Weres. Strong female friendships are important in my own life, so building that into the story was easy as breathing. While the story ends with the H/H together, the conflict still hangs over them, something the mystery and suspense continues to build along with twists and humor in Twice Cursed (book 2). I hope your readers take a chance on my Cursed by Blood Series. In the meantime I am outlining more of the Legend Series…combining historic fact, Hudson Valley folklore and mystery to follow Hollow’s End!

    Happy Holidays everyone!
    Marianne Morea

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      Thank you for being so wonderful in your response to each of my reviews. It means a lot when an author takes the time really talk to us readers :) I will definitely be continuing with the series and I also hope my readers give your books a shot. I do feel like I run into cliches a lot in YA, but my favorite books are usually the ones that throw them out the window. That was one of the things that I loved most about Hollow’s End, so I’ll be very excited to continue reading that series as well.

      Reply
  5. Pabkins

    I’ll have to take a look at the first book’s description then.

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      If you mean Hollow’s End, I’d highly recommend it. This one was good, but Hollow’s End was awesome! :)

      Reply

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